Reliable Grid Act Puts Environmental Rules on Hold to Keep Coal and Gas Plants Running

The newly proposed Reliable Grid Act is a direct intervention aimed at keeping the lights on by hitting the brakes on environmental regulations. The core idea is that grid reliability—keeping the power flowing—is the absolute priority, even if it means slowing down the retirement of older, more polluting power plants.

This bill explicitly directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator to treat reliable, affordable electricity as the main thing to consider when writing new rules (SEC. 2). Essentially, Congress is telling the EPA: stop crafting rules that might force essential power plants—specifically those that can be turned on and off on demand, like natural gas and coal facilities—to shut down too quickly. If a rule is going to cause a reliable plant to retire prematurely, the EPA is supposed to issue waivers to stop that retirement and maintain the power supply.

The Reliability Override: What Gets Paused

The most immediate and tangible impact of this bill is the regulatory pause button it presses. Section 3 prohibits the EPA from enforcing existing rules that limit the continuous operation of these 'dispatchable electric generating units' (power plants that can quickly adjust output). This enforcement freeze lasts until the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) officially declares that the entire U.S. power grid is at a 'normal risk' level, based on their specific December 2023 assessment.

Think of it this way: If you run a coal or gas plant, and the EPA had rules limiting how much you could run or how much you could emit, those limits are now suspended until NERC gives the all-clear. For the average person, this means that while the risk of blackouts might decrease in the short term, the air quality improvements expected from those paused EPA rules are also put on hold. If you live near one of these plants, the environmental and public health benefits from those regulations are effectively postponed.

Who Benefits from the Regulatory Freeze?

The primary beneficiaries are the owners and operators of existing fossil fuel power plants. The bill essentially grants them a reprieve from costly compliance upgrades and extends the operational life of their facilities. For consumers, the immediate benefit is stability: fewer brownouts or blackouts, especially during peak demand times, because the existing, reliable capacity is locked in place. The bill requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and NERC to create new reliability standards that specifically acknowledge that solar and wind power can produce 'almost no power during peak demand or bad weather' (SEC. 2). This is a clear signal that future grid planning must prioritize the on-demand capabilities of conventional power sources.

The Catch: What About Future Rules?

Section 2 also mandates a high bar for any future environmental rules affecting the power sector. The EPA Administrator must immediately stop implementing any recent power-sector rules until they can prove two things: first, that the rules won't cause any more reliable plants to retire early, and second, that the entire U.S. power system can handle demand without frequent outages. This requirement to prove a negative—that a rule will have zero impact on retirements—is a massive hurdle that could effectively stall or kill new environmental regulations for years. For communities concerned about climate change or local pollution, this bill prioritizes the immediate availability of power over long-term environmental protection and public health goals, shifting the focus away from a rapid transition to cleaner energy and toward preserving the existing infrastructure.